Can I add a Trigger?

A sailfin tang would be pretty sweet. If you switched it out for one of your current tangs, you would have room.

 

Blue Jaws rarely are agressive towards his tanks mates. He will be agressive towards other male triggers though, but he won't be agressive towards females....no matter how much. He may bully other fish like chromis and other planktivores since they both naturally eat the same food. Blue jaws and most other xanthichthys doesn't eat smallerfish. They're natural food is plankton in the wild (aka doesn't eat corals). He may also eat ornamental shrimp if he is not fed well enough. This does not consider cleaner shrimp. Cleaner shrimp would be considered symbiosis and not ornamental. Be careful with clams though.

I have a 4-5" blue jaw with a pair of misbarclowns, three cleaners, and a school of chromis with no problems, but keep in mind it also depends on the individual fish. (reef tank)


I say go for it

 

i would never keep a trigger in a reef,it will eat every thing smaller than it , and tear the corals a part...
i had a sailfin,blonde naso, hippio and a orange shoulder tangs in my 125g tank and all were 6'' plus with the sailfin about 10'' they all got along but they nocked my corals over all the time i had to glue them down . i had them for 5 years before i was in the hospital and my return pump failed ,tank crashed and the sail fin was the only suvior it lasted 2 more years .it's pretty hard to kill a sail fin

 

There are some things to consider. I had triggers and tangs in a fish only tank and they are strong and they burrow themselves into the rocks, their sharp dorsal fin acts as a defense mechanism in the wild so they can stick themselves between two rocks head first so a passing big fish will only be able to eat their tail. With a man-made reef that alone scares me. I did have some big triggers (pink tail, clown, huma huma and a queen).

The other thing that scares me is they like to eat inverts and if they want one they will tear into the rocks to find it. Now with all honesty I've been told that the blue jaw is not an aggressive fish so I would do a lot of research before you put one in. BTW the queen was about 7" wide but he liked me and would lay down in my hand. Unbelievable considering it's reputation but I wouldn't have wanted to be a snail. IMO

 

Im gonna chime in here

Im not too keen on the way people are telling this guy no to the trigger. Its almost being put across as an order. Not nice really.

Blue chine triggers are one of the very few triggers considered reef safe. In the wild they actually eat zooplankton. IMO in that large a tank, they would be fine.

Fish Profile: Blue Throat Trigger Fish, Xanthichthys auromarginatus by Lisa Miller - Reefkeeping.com

Blue Jaw Triggerfish-Male Hawaii 5.5-7 in. (Xanthichthys auromar - Reef Hot Spot

Fish Species: Blue Jaw Triggerfish

 

I have a pink tail trigger in a 150. She is about 4 1/2 inches now. I have never seen her eating corals or being aggressive towards other fish, including clowns and a leopard wrasse. She is extremely docile and one of the friendliest fish in my tank.

That being said, she is definitely NOT invert safe. I have seen her eat cleaner shrimp and snails. I am setting up a 265 FOWLR and she is one of the first fish being put in there. Not because I am worried about my corals, but because I know she will eventually outgrow the 150.

I think a small blue chin would be a great fish to add to your tank. The triggers have the best personalities and can almost become like little puppies.

 

Well thanks everyone for their input. I am still undecided as to what I will do, because I am going to be building a new stand, and with that stand have to decide if I want to drill my tank or not, which means completely draining the tank and removing all livestock and rocks! That will not be a fun couple of days.

But first I have to find out if the glass is tempered, which is difficult with no labels as to the tank brand! But hopefully after this entire ordeal is over I will have a visually pleasing stand and a new skimmer with an increased water volume for buffering!

 

i think they will be fine. they are planktivores and are rarely agressive to other tank mates. they are also some of the most reed safe trigger fish out there. seabass1 had one for a couple years i think. then it concked out on him for some reason if you want them then do it. ultimately it is youre tank not ours. i think you ought to be fine with them anyhow.

 

Put on a pair of polarized sunglasses. The tempered glass will appear differently, it will have lines or patterns. To make sure your sunglasses are polarized, look at the back window of a car (most back windows are tempered).